The Holy Doctrine of Balance

Worship of Sgrios

To most Aislings, the worship of the God of death and decay, Sgrios, is an abominable act, viewed as the damnation of the follower’s soul and expulsion from society. However, most people throughout history who have mobbed Sgrios worshippers out of their villages and burnt people accused of alliance at the stake have never thought deeper into the meaning of Sgrios’ holy being. The octagram that connects the Gods has an important purpose, not only to show that alliance of the divine beings, but also to show the balance that those holy powers share in our world. Without one side of the ancient star, the neighboring sides fall to pieces without meaning. Surely the good Aislings of today can take the time to think clearly on this level of balance and stop the endless violence that our ancestors have shaped.

Ever since the reconstruction of the Temple of Glioca in Mileth, the Goddess of compassion has become an ever-growing fellowship of citizens, one of the largest in our world. By this most would expect Aislings to become more compassionate towards their neighbors, perhaps even towards their greatest enemies, as it is in the teachings of Glioca… This is not so.

However far the reach of good may spread, those who are Light-blinded will always seek to snuff out anything that is not their own beliefs, for to most who take on a religion, their own doctrine is supreme in reign. Sadly, villages are still torn to apart when opposite deities inhabit the lives of friends and neighbors, more so if one of the Gods happens to be the dreaded Sgrios. Why, I ask, in this time of great enlightenment after the disastrous affairs of the eighth aeon of Temuair, do we still insist on making ourselves the only right? Clearly, without war, new things could not grow, passage of time could not wear into new ages, law could not be upheld, and compassion could not be stirred forth once again. Without death, life ceases its meaning and becomes a drawn out affair, something begged to be taken at last, and without decay, change cannot exist, fortune cannot be tested, the past always lingering about. Do we not grow wiser as time robs us of our youth, yielding to this decay of the ages? Fortune pays its dues with this passage of time, and law is created with the wisdom we have earned. The deities are so delicately intertwined, yet all Aislings seem rooted in our own beliefs without notice of the fragile connection.

Likewise, not all people of ill law and dark heart worship in the triad of "darkness". Anyone citizen may look back into the course of their life and see examples of dishonesty in every shape: the merchant who worshipped Gramail, yet charged poor farmers their livestock for clothes, the Glioca priest who ignored the dying peasant to mind her own needs, or the Ceannlaidir follower the refused to help her brother fight a losing battle. So many terrible mistakes of forgetting what we stand for, only remembering when a rival force comes into play. People of vile action can be found in every class and religion, not only the ranks of the Sgrios triad.

I weep for the Children of Sgrios, driven from their homes and burned alive for the sake of a higher "good", while in turn, I weep for the people who have been killed by the Children, stricken in fear of who may call what they believe for all to hear and punish them for. We must stop this madness and see the true Light: all are needed for the balance of nature and time. Death brings the necessary ending to the circle of being, making room for new life, which is in turn fueled by the power of decay. Have our farmers not found that rotting leaves and fruits cause seeds to grow more effectively? Do our wizards not use decaying materials to work their arts?

Sgrios indeed forms an important part of being, which most Aislings regard with bitterness and anger. Death, to most, is a terrible occurrence; taking loved ones from their sight and threatening their journeys of life. Perhaps if death were regarded as a completion of the circle, not the theft of something a person once possessed, the religion of Sgrios would not have experienced the number of problems it has throughout the centuries.

Someday, Aislings may finally become harmonious in their actions once again, accepting each other for their parts in the balance of our world, though such a day will require great work from all who exist. With the study of this balance and the opening of minds, our goal could be closer at hand… if only we could think in new ways, as Deoch would wish, our compassion stirred, as Glioca would love, our will to fight for our cause brought to life as Ceannlaidir feels the need, our faith in luck and blessings revived, as Fiosachd desires, our sense of justice refilled by Gramail, our minds opened by new knowledge as Luathas cares, our sense of natural balance returned as Cail would love, and bury old grudges to give way to what lies ahead, as Sgrios wills.

Perhaps one day….